Mexico Formula 1 Grand Prix: Preview and Best Bet

Lewis Hamilton was made to wait one more week before he could officially claim the 2018 Drivers Championship after finishing third in last weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Texas.

The Brit is 70 points clear of his Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel and needed just a handful of points to clinch his fifth world title.

He will start the season’s third last race in Mexico City as the second favourite behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel favourite in Mexico despite poor form

The German is priced at $2.37 to win the Mexican Grand Prix, a race he has never won in his career.

Since its return to the Formula One calendar in 2015, Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have all claimed top honours at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.

Hamilton will leave nothing to chance on the track this weekend and is a $3 shot of claiming his second race win at the venue.

The Brit led last weekend’s event at the Circuit of the Americans, only to have to pit with 19 laps to go after his soft tyres failed him.

Consistent Raikkonen finally claims race win

That allowed veteran Fin Kimi Raikkonen to claim his first race win of the season by leapfrogging Hamilton.

Raikkonen has had a consistent season, finishing no lower than sixth place in races that he has completed and retiring only three times.

He is a $10 shot of winning this race, but the Ferrari team is $2.12 to claim victory.

Max Verstappen’s Red Bull enjoyed this course last season and he is expected to be on the podium again, priced at $5.50 to win the race and $1.67 to be on the podium.

His team mate Daniel Ricciardo is a $2.75 chance of finishing on the podium as he looks for his first top three finish since he won the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this season.

Verstappen is fifth in the Drivers Championship standings with 191 points, while Ricciardo is in sixth with 146 points.

Outsider Bottas might be given time in the sun

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas is another who may fancy his chances in Mexico this weekend after finishing second last season.

He was nearly 20 seconds behind race winner Verstappen, but the Fin hasn’t been far away from snaring his first race win of the season, finishing second in Russia and Japan recently.

All in all he has seven second-placed finishes, with a lot of that to do with team strategy and allowing Hamilton to take the chequered flag.

This weekend may offer him a chance to win a race given Hamilton requires such a meagre points tally from the race.

Bottas is priced at $15 to win the Mexico Grand Prix and $3 to secure a podium finish.

Silver Arrows can seal Constructors crown

It is Mercedes that holds a 66-point lead in the Constructors Championship standings, with Ferrari needing a miracle to capture that crown off the German manufacturer.

Since Vettel’s fortunes have plummeted since the mid-season break, so too have the manufacturers, although they managed to snare their first race win since Silverstone with Raikkonen’s triumph last weekend.

Fastest lap is a race in-two

Vettel took pole position last year and holds the fastest lap at the track of 1:16:488.

He was the first driver since the race’s reintroduction to the calendar to not claim race honours after finishing in pole position, as Rosberg and Hamilton both won from pole position in 2015 and 2016.

Hamilton and Vettel are both priced at $3.75 to have the fastest lap this weekend, with Ricciardo and Verstappen the next best at $5.

If either Hamilton or Bottas can claim pole after Saturday’s qualifying event, it will be the 100th time Mercedes has grabbed pole position in the Formula One.

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